DELAY
OF THE DAY

USAF is
Fisherman's Friend

Sounds funny, but it has
happened before: The Air Force cancelled the launch due to safety
concerns for the crews on two fishing vessels that were within the
safety limit lines during the terminal countdown.

ACE will conduct studies on
samples of space matter, including the solar corona and galactic
matter. ACE also has the capability of monitoring solar winds, which
can kill satellites, disrupt communications and electrical power on
earth.

NASA TV (GE-2, 85 geg. West)
will carry the launch live starting at 9 a.m. EDT on transponder 9C.
Unless there are any fishing vessels around the safety zone, that
is.

LAUNCHES

Lewis
launched with LMLV1

Lewis, built by TRW Inc., is
the first of NASA's Small Spacecraft Technology Initiative (SSTI)
satellites. Lewis' three instrument payloads, which feature
hyperspectral radiometers, are the first such instruments in space.

Six more LMLV launches are
scheduled through 1999. The next LMLV launch will be the first
launch of an LMLV2, a three-stage vehicle that can launch satellites
weighing up to 4,350 lb. Its launch is currently scheduled for late
1997, carrying NASA's Lunar Prospector, built by Lockheed Martin
Missiles and Space.

LEO Long
March with smart dispensers

Following the recent
successful launch of a Filipino satellite, China Great Wall Industry
Corp. thinks its launch business could skyrocket, as the "China
Daily" reported.

The paper claimed that
"industry insiders" thought Wednesday's flight as well as
three successful launches since last October have restored public
confidence in Chang Zheng (Long
March) launch vehicles. As reported, news agencies have quoted other
experts who said that this was not the case.

Anyway,
China also follows the latest trend and plans to take
on low- and medium-orbit business. About 600 or 700 lower-orbit
satellites will be launched world-wide by 2006, creating great
opportunities for China's Long March rockets. The LM-2C/SD launch
vehicle has been developed for low earth orbit (LEO) launches and
will, for instance, be used to launch Iridium satellites. "This
new device evolves from the LM-2C with new smart dispensers,"
China Daily said according to Xinhua.

CHANNELS

Auntie
Beeb's repackaging operation

The British Broadcasting
Corporation plans to launch analogue pay television channels in the
UK this autumn as part of its joint venture with U.S. controlled
programme supplier Flextech.

Agreements have been reached
with cable companies to carry the channels, BBC Deputy Director
General Bob Phillis told reporters. He added that the BBC was also
in talks with satellite broadcaster BSkyB but has yet to strike a
deal.

The lion's share of the
financing is supplied by U.S. cable monolith TCI, which owns a
controlling stake in Flextech. In a separate deal, the BBC is
developing international pay-TV channels under a deal with Discovery
Communications, a company in which TCI also is a large shareholder.

"The very notion of
subscription television is that people do pay to subscribe to more
themed, specialised programming," Phillis said -- even though
the subscription channels contain more or less just repackaged BBC
repeats.

While the BBC still cashes in
£3.2 billion in license fees annually, it aims at increasing
revenues from its commercial operations (£73 million last
year.)

Another
UK channel to go global?

BBC world-wide? The rest of
the world has somehow got used to that thought, although it's a bit
unclear what qualifies the BBC (or any other entity for that matter)
as a global programme provider. Now, what about ITV world-wide?

ITV (Independent Television)
is a federation of 15 regional commercial TV licensees spread across
the United Kingdom, using the country's third terrestrial
transmitter chain ("Channel 3") to air local as well as a
common programming during prime-time. Its federal structure stems
back from the 1950s. On the financial side, four large companies
since then have taken control of most of the licenses: Granada Group
Plc, United News & Media Plc, Carlton Communications Plc and
Scottish Media Plc.

Anthony Fry, head of global
media at bank BZW, told a session of the Edinburgh International
Television Festival that ITV "must in time become a single
entity in terms not only of operations but ownership." He added
that "we need a powerful Channel 3 to compete in an
increasingly global marketplace."

Sponsored
Pride

According to the South
African Mail and Guardian, a satellite-delivered radio channel for
the country's gay and lesbian community will be launched soon.

Pride Radio, as the channel
will be called, will offer a 24-hour music and talk format with
programming "as diverse as possible." However, as
satellite reception equipment is not easily affordable to everyone
in the target audience, Pride Radio hopes for sponsors that will
provide black gay clubs with satellite dishes.

RUPERTWATCH

By Dr Sarmaz

Rupert
once more big in Japan

Japan's PerfecTV and Rupert
Murdoch's Japan Sky Broadcasting (JSkyB) have reportedly agreed upon
a common digital platform for their rivalling DTH services.

According to sources quoted
by news agency Kyodo, both will use common antennas, receivers and
viewing cards. The companies reportedly expect the tie-up to help
increase the number of viewers of their broadcasts.

Satellite dishes and
integrated receiver/decoders are planned to be marketed by next
spring when JSkyB, led by Mr Murdoch, plans to launch its
150-channel service. The price of the reception equipment is
expected to be about ¥10,000 higher than those being marketed
now.

PerfecTV has been on the air
since last autumn. DirecTV Japan, another digital satellite
broadcaster, plans to launch a 100-channel service this December.

Rupert
gives cable operators a wink

According to Kelvin
Mackenzie, managing director of Mirror TV, several UK cable
companies refuse to pay a new monthly charge for Sky Sports 2.

So far, Sky Sports 2 was free
to subscribers to Sky Sports 1, the original sports channel of Mr
Murdoch's BSkyB. Last week, however, BSkyB said that beginning in
September subscribers would have to pay an additional £3 per
month for Sky Sports 2.

Mackenzie said BSkyB has
'blinked' at the refusal to pay extra for the channel and noted that
the satellite broadcaster, which is 40 per cent owned by Rupert
Murdoch's News Corp., is afraid to cut the channel from cable
packages due to European Union and UK regulatory investigations into
the company's competitive practices.